


Worth Remembering

by especiallythezefronposter



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Confessions, First Kiss, M/M, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 10:58:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3765598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/especiallythezefronposter/pseuds/especiallythezefronposter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'What was your first kiss like?', Tony asks suddenly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth Remembering

'What was your first kiss like?', Tony asks suddenly.

Bruce stills deliberately, careful to put down his soldering iron before he looks up at Tony, studying his face. He's helping him out in the small workshop up in the penthouse today, building robots that could keep the living quarters in Avengers Tower clean. This became a necessity when one of the maids leaked details about Steve's private life. The pills he takes to stay calm, the sex toys he keeps in a box under his bed and the letters he writes to people he knew before and during the war. The letter she had stolen from his room and leaked along with the rest was a painfully personal one he had written to Bucky Barnes not that long after coming out of the ice, when his memories were still sort of hazy, but slowly coming back to him. The letter had been a simple list of memories, one of the most detailed Steve's first kiss, which he had shared with Bucky.

'Nothing worth remembering,' he says, going back to work. 'I wouldn't even remember it if it hadn't been my first.'

Tony's part of the lab has gone quiet and Bruce knows he's looking at him. 'That's hardly an answer.'

Bruce glances up to confirm his suspicion, meeting Tony's intense gaze only for a moment. 'Why do you want to know?'

''Cause we're - I'd give my life for you and I don't even really know anything about you.'

'You read my file.'

'Only the parts I needed to know,' Tony says, almost like he's embarrassed. 'The part about your work and the Other Guy, not the personal stuff.'

'Oh,' is all Bruce says. Then he puts down his soldering iron again, takes off his glasses and cleans them with the hem of his shirt. He had read Tony's entire file, without even considering that it was a breach of privacy. The guilt that suddenly stabs at his gut is probably the reason he continues the way he does. 'I was at this party when I was... Fifteen, I think, maybe sixteen. I was only invited because I had done a biology project with the girl who organized it and she felt like she owed me because we got a better grade than she usually got. We were playing Spin The Bottle and... I'm not even sure how I ended up in the circle, but suddenly the bottle was pointing at me and then at some girl everyone knew except for me and she... She straight up refused to kiss me. And Hanna, the girl from the biology project, she already felt guilty because she had invited me and I obviously wasn't enjoying myself at all and then I had to sit through the most humiliating moment of my entire life up until that point. She was one of those popular kids who's genuinely kind, you know, and she just said 'I'll do it.', walked over to me and kissed me for ten seconds straight. I don't remember anything but trying really hard not to have a panic attack. I wasn't all that well adjusted to human touch back then.' He's never told anyone about this before, not even Betty and suddenly he's overwhelmed by how strongly he feels about something he hasn't thought of since high school.

Tony doesn't say anything for a long while, just stares at Bruce as Bruce stares at the table in front of him. 'When I was twelve,' Tony says then, 'with the son of one of the maids. I had just had a fight with my dad about how I had to be better in French if I wanted to ever become CEO of the company and couldn't be so rude to the nannies if I wanted to be CEO and couldn't be friends with certain people and couldn't do my homework that badly and couldn't do this and couldn't do that... I was too angry to even care about his approval for a while, so I convinced the guy to kiss me and made sure someone who'd tell my dad would see. He's the only guy I kissed until after Afghanistan and I don't even remember his name.'

There's another long silence. 'You'd give your life for me?', Bruce asks then, only now fully comprehending what Tony had said.

Tony starts to laugh. 'You are unreal,' he mutters.

'I'd rather you don't, okay? 'Cause I'm literally incapable of returning the favour.' There’s humor in Bruce's voice, but he hopes Tony realizes he's serious.

'I'll keep that in mind,' Tony says, smile on Tony's face doesn't match with his earnest tone.

'You mean you're bi but only touched women for most of your life,' Bruce says then and Tony isn't laughing anymore. It's not even a question. 'You only started fooling around with men after you realized you were going to die.'

Tony is making his way towards Bruce between the tables and the chunks of metal lying around. 'Don’t you fucking pity me. My live has been described as 'tragic' too many times. If you start, too, I'm throwing you out.'

'I don't pity you,' Bruce says, maintaining eye contact.

Tony takes a deep breath. 'Good.' His eyes drift down, to Bruce's lips. 'You know I asked because I want to kiss you, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, can I?' Bruce knows Tony better than to mistake his nerves for impatience. This is a man who fights monsters for a living, who went swimming with the Hulk once, and he stands before Bruce afraid to be rejected.

Bruce smiles and reaches for Tony's hair as he leans in.


End file.
